Til We Call This Love
by JessWinchester
Summary: Stiles and Lydia have been dancing around each other for far too long. (Based on Christina Perri's song, "Distance") Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or the song lyrics used in this fic.


_The sun is filling up the room_

_And I can hear you dreaming_

_Do you feel the way I do right now?_

_I wish we would just give up_

_Cause the best part is falling_

_Call it anything but love_

_Lydia:_

Even two months after Allison's death, I stay over Stiles' house most nights. We've tried staying apart, but to no avail. It always ended up with him calling me, cries present in his tone, asking me if I could come over because he was in no position to drive, or me showing up at his house at two in the morning without a word. It has come to the point where I keep a box of my things tucked away under his bed. Changes of clothes, pajamas, spare hygiene necessities, and other things I might need.

I wake up today, the sun from the window pouring over my face, and Stiles' arms tucked around my waist, holding me close to him. He looks almost peaceful; that's a rarity for Stiles these days. He smells like cedar. It's a smell I've grown to love. I can almost hear him dreaming, as his breathing stays consistent, chest rising and falling in beat.

It's times like these where I can almost forget. Forget all of the pain I am going through; the pain we're all going through. I still feel like there's a hole everywhere I look. Empty space that Allison should be occupying, but isn't. And I know Stiles blames himself, and he shouldn't. And I know I blame myself, and it makes me hypocritical. But in this moment, I can almost forget the grief, just lying beside this boy who makes me so confused.

_And I will make sure to keep my distance_

_Say, "I love you," when you're not listening_

_And how long can we keep this up, up, up?_

_Stiles:_

It could never work. I couldn't stay away from Lydia for the life of me, so I just keep my distance. But that's a struggle.

Sitting here in the library, researching banshees and werewolves with her strawberry blonde hair cascading over me while her head rests on my shoulder is seriously hard. You try acting like a couple with the girl you've been in love with since third grade, but not have the allowance to kiss her.

Lydia huffs, putting the book down, and standing, running her hands through her hair and pacing next to the desk.

I look up at her, "What's wrong?"

"It's just, I've been trying to figure this out for so long. I need to figure out how to control my powers, or whatever you want to call this curse. I need to figure out more about myself, and I find nothing useful. Apparently, werewolves are among the more common folklore, but banshees? Next to nothing! I feel clueless, and I hate feeling clueless. You know that!"

I smile softly as she rambles on, "I love you so damn much."

Lydia keeps talking, not listening to what I said, and I think it's for the best, but I don't know how long I can keep this up before I'm screaming it off buildings and spontaneously kissing her out of the blue.

_Please don't stand so close to me_

_I'm having trouble breathing_

_I'm afraid of what you'll see right now_

_I give you everything I am_

_All my broken heart beats_

_Until I know you'll understand_

_Lydia:_

"You guys were amazing!" I say to Scott and Stiles on the lacrosse field, Kira by my side. She kisses Scott on the cheek, and I find myself wishing I could do the same to Stiles without making things awkward.

Stiles steps forward, wrapping his arms around me, our friends smiling. My heart nearly stops, as it does everytime I'm this close to Stiles. It's hard to deny my feelings for him when one of him arms is at my waist, and they other tangles in my hair. He puts his arms around me, and I'm home.

Stiles pulls away first, and I reluctantly let go. I guess he's had more practice.

_And I will make sure to keep my distance_

_Say, "I love you," when you're not listening_

_And how long can we keep this up, up, up?_

_Stiles:_

"Well, he's practically your boyfriend," Scott says, rolling his eyes at Lydia.

I look up to see Lydia blushing, and muttering, "Stiles is not my boyfriend."

Liam, the newest addition to our pack, smirks for a reason unknown to me. It's not news that Lydia doesn't feel the same way I do, but it still hurts to hear.

Lydia looks like something is upsetting her for a few seconds, but before I can ask what's wrong, she smiles, her features brightening.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to."

I smile at her as she walks away before looking back down at my plate of food, picking up my fork and moving around the rice from my school bought lunch.

"So, who else thinks the business she's attending to is working on her secret keeping skills in the mirror?" Scott asks jokingly, and I look up, furrowing my eyebrows.

"Why would Lydia have to keep a secret?" I ask.

After the Nogitsune, Lydia and I have grown closer, and I know almost everything about her. She knows almost everything about me.

"You seriously have no idea, do you?"

_And I keep waiting_

_For you to take me_

_You keep waiting_

_To save what we have_

_So I'll make sure to keep my distance_

_Say, "I love you," when you're not listening_

_And how long can we keep this up, up, up?_

_Lydia:_

I lean against Stiles' locker, waiting for him because he's my ride home, while talking to Kira, who is waiting for Scott.

"Are you guys hanging out tonight, then?" Kira asks, clearly referring to Stiles.

"Yeah," I smile, "He's been helping try to find as much as I can about banshees while still keeping track of this whole deadpool debacle. If we're going to survive this, I figured I should at least know exactly what I am."

"And what about the other thing?"

"What other thing?" I ask, playing clueless.

"When are you going to tell him you're in love with him, Lydia? He's loved you for how long? What could go wrong?"

I sigh, looking at my friend, "He's with Malia."

Kira rolls her eyes, "They went on a few dates, but Malia says she can tell he doesn't feel the same way. I should know, I'm practically her best friend in this whole thing."

"I noticed. Seriously, how do you get along so well with everyone?"

"We're not talking about me, Lydia!" Kira says, leaning forward.

"What are we talking about then?" Scott asks, walking over with Stiles.

I sigh, "Nothing. We weren't talking about anything."

_2 Months Later:_

_Make sure to keep my distance_

_Say, "I love you," when you're not listening_

_How long 'til we call this love, love, love?_

I throw my head back in laughter, smothering batter across Stiles' forehead.

"Oh, you're on!" Stiles yells, blowing flour into my face.

Before we knew it, the Stilinski kitchen was a mess, and our 'Glad We Didn't Die' cake wasn't looking so good to be done in ten minutes.

Still giggling, I grab a cloth from the counter, and wipe down my face, making it clearer to see through the frosting and flour.

"We should probably clean this up."

Stiles nodding, looking around, "We should probably finish this cake."

"Yeah, the pack's going to be here soon for our celebratory movie night. Great idea that was."

"Hey!" Stiles calls in mock offense, "I think it was a brilliant idea!"

"That's because it was your idea," I deadpan.

"My ideas are always brilliant."

"Oh yeah," I challenge, "What about this one? We're a complete mess!"

"To be fair, you started it, and you've got something on your face, actually."

I sucked in a breath as Stiles stepped closer to me, "Oh?"

"Yeah," he mumbled, his face inches from mine.

"Can you get it, then?" I ask, trying to regain my composure.

He nods before connecting his lips with mine. Slowly I wring my arms around his neck, caving into him while he holds my waist.

"I would say finally, but I was really looking forward to a finished cake," Scott calls out, making us jump apart.

My eyes widen at the sight of Scott, Kira, Malia, and Liam standing in the doorway, and hear another car pull up, before realizing it must be Derek.

"Well," I purse my lips together, looking anywhere but Stiles, "I'm going to go shower."

Kira giggles before grabbing my arm, "Do you need anything? I could run to my house."

I blush, "Uhm, no. I've got a box of stuff in Stiles' room."

"Of course you do," she smiles, "So, how long until you call this love, now?"

"Shut up," I reply, before running up the stairs, trying to get away from them because I knew it wouldn't be long. Not long at all.


End file.
